Roadies and mountain bikers converge on Seattle’s Eastside

Bicycling enthusiasts will enjoy two-wheeled bliss on knobby and skinny tires this Saturday in Redmond and Issaquah.

Evergreen Mountain Bike Festival poster

The widely acclaimed Duthie Hill Park in the Issaquah highlands once again will be the site for the annual Evergreen Mountain Bike Festival this coming Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Also Saturday, the Cascade Bicycle Club presents the Flying Wheels Summer Century beginning as early as 7:30 a.m. for registration and packet pick-up at Marymoor Park in Redmond.

There’s no rider limit for either event. Temperatures are expected to reach 72 degrees that day with a 20% chance of rain.

Mountain bike

This is the fourth year that Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance is presenting the Evergreen Mountain Bike Festival where bikers can demo bikes from all major brands and join guided tours with Evergreen instructors on the cross-country and free-style routes through the park.

Forty-some vendors will have displays at the festival, and food and beverages will be available. There are also events and races scheduled throughout the day.

Entrance to the festival is free. A “festival clearing pass” of $10 (for Evergreen members) and $20 (non-members) will enable visitors to demo bikes, join the clinics and guided rides, and the enjoy the evening barbecue. Kids 14 and under are free, and there are events geared toward them.

Parking at the Duthie Hill Park on Southeast Duthie Hill Road will be full. Extra parking will be available “next door” at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 26529 SE Duthie Hill Road, Issaquah (available for this event only), or the Cascade Ridge Elementary School north of the park at 2020 Trossachs Boulevard Southeast, Sammamish. Festival organizers ask that people don’t park alongside the road.

Road biking

Also Saturday, the annual Flying Wheels Summer Century is considered the warm-up ride for the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic coming up in July. Complete the 65-mile ride comfortably and you’re good to go for the back-to-back centuries at STP; finish the 100-miler and you’re on track to finish the double-century in July.

The ride starts at Marymoor Park in Redmond and features four options — 25, 45, 65 and 100 miles. The course opens at 8 a.m. for the century, 9 a.m. for the 45 and 65-mile routes, and 10 a.m. for the 25-mile route.

The 25-mile ride uses the East Lake Sammamish Trail before heading west through neighborhoods in Bellevue and back to Marymoor. The other routes head east into rich farming and dairy country in the verdant Snoqualmie River Valley. There will be hills.